Apparatus for coloring films



June 26, 1934. o. c. GILMORE APPARATUS FOR COLORING FILMS Original FiledMarch 14, 1929 sown Guam mung CCCCCCCC UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEAPPARATUS FOR COLORING FILMS Otto c. Gilmore, Los Angeles, Calif.,assignor, by

memo assignments, to Cinemacolor Corporation, Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware Application March 14, 1929, SerialNo. 346,867Renewed November 17, 1933 This invention relates to apparatus forcolorindividual color record of the positive film carrying films and isparticularly adapted to so color ing its own filter as a part of thefilm. the films that the color thereon is a substitute The presentinvention is designed to color the for light filters heretofore used inthe projeclongitudinal halves of the film in colors corretion of colormotion pictures. spending to the color records upon the corre- It hasfor its object the dyeing of the film sponding longitudinal halves,while the film is with an even, controlled color whereby a sharpercontinuously passing a given point and during the image and a morebalanced color is produced and continuous movement thereof. Of course,if more 1 fl1ter5 may b liminated, than two color records extendlongitudinally i h the a ove an other objects in vie as throughout thefilm, the width of each record is will be apparent, this invention conists in th probably reduced or that of the film increased, construction,combination and arrangement of and the Present apparatus y be d y p dparts, all as her inafter m re fully d rib d, to produce any desirednumber of colored strips claimed and illustrated in the accompanyingextending longitudinally f t e film.

drawing, wherein: Reference being had more particularly to the Fig. 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, of drawing, 10 indicates a platformor frame at apparatus embodying t present, invention; the ends of whichare the reel supporting pedes- Flg, 2 is a, plan iew of a, section offilm illus- C818 01 brackets 11 and 12. Reels 01 spools 13 are t ti g thapplication of color dye t t mounted on these brackets or pedestals 11and 12 film by the apparatus forming the subject m tt by means of theshafts 14 seated in suitable bear- 'he -eof by means of brushes orwicks, t same ings 15 at the tops of the pedestals or brackets. being asection taken along line2-2 oi Fig. 1; The film 16 is designed to becontinuously fed and h from the reel 13, supported by the pedestal or vFig. 3 is a similar view illustrating the use of bracket t0 t eel 3supported 01 carried sprays for applying t coloring tt or dye by thebracket or pedestal 12, the coloring matt t 111 Y ter being applied tothe body of the film as it In t manufacture and proje tion of 00101-passes from one reel 13 to the other. A pair of tion pictures, thepositive film embodies two or feeding mechanisms 17 are mounted o t a emore separate and distinct color records, that, if Platmrm 10 to ide andoperate the desired, may be one or more lengths of film and through. themachineone 0! these fe din which are projected by light upon a screenand mechamsms 171$ Operated y 8 motor 18 thr u h there blended toproduce a single image. The the medium of belt and extending images fromeach color record are projected the feeding mechanism 1'7 to a pulley 21on the through a light filter corresponding in color to shaft of thereel 13 carried by the bracket or 86 the record projected therethmugh.mesa bearing 12, is a belt 20, which also drives the reel 90 lightfilters are customarily positioned in the path 511001 13 Operating onthe pedestal or bracket of light and have usually no connectig with the12. The operation of the motor 18 by driving one m being projectedfeeding mechanism 17 and from it one of the reels resent invention isruculafl 1 13, removes the film from the reel 13 carried 0 3 ,133,,conjun tio with g gf figg by the pedestal or bracket 11 and winds it onI includes both color records on a single width and the reel carried bythe pedestal bracket length of standard motion picture film. In the Thetwo feeding mechanisms P' the f f mm illustrated in the drawing, thecolor central portion of the film in a position approximately parallelto the platform or frame 10 of records are arranged side by side on thefilm so 1 that one row of images represents one color recapparatus andmaintains it on or adjacent 0o to the floor 22 of an open ended cabinet23, carord and the adjoining duplicate row of images ried by theplatform or frame of the machine 10,

represents another color record. By coloring the 1 o mechanisms film tocorrespond with the'color record thereon igfgg g fgl' f l g g ggg passesi as, for instance, one longitudinal half 01' the film tudmany throughthe cabinet 23' adjacent to or being hlhegreeh and the 9 upon the bottom22 thereof. The bottom 22 of tudinal ha f b61118 o d red-Orange 9 thecabinet 23 acts as a table and support for the World with the @0101records pn -fi s in these film during the coloring operation.

r p l n in l halves of the'film, the use The open ended cabinet 23,carries a pair of to! filters in the path of light is eliminated, eachreservoirs 24 and 25, which are designed to contain the dyes or colorswith which the film is to be treated. A suitable outlet 26 is providedfor each reservoir 24-25, and, while the type of outlets or feedingapparatus may vary over quite a range of equivalents, they areillustrated as pipes or tubes 26, provided with regulating valves 27.The fiowof the dye or coloring matter from each reservoir 24-25 isregulated by the valve 27, and it will be observed from Fig. 1 of thedrawing that the tubes or pipes 26 terminate adjoining the bottom 22 ofthe cabinet 23. Cooperating with each pipe or outlet 26, is a brush orwick 28 supported by an arm 29. These arms 29 are adjustably secured bythe set screws 30 on rods 31, arranged transversely of the cabinet 23.By reference to Fig. 2 of the drawing, it will be seen that the brushesor wicks 28 are each of a width to occupy the full width of one of thecolor records l6 and 16 between the perforations l6 along the edges ofthe film. If the film has a sound path the brushes or wicks 28 do notcolor this path but are limited in their width to operate upon thelongitudinal paths or strips of images, or, in other words, upon asingle row of images constituting a single color record. The dyes orcoloring matter from the reservoirs 24--25 are fed by the pipes 26 tothe brushes or wicks 28 and by the brushes are placed upon the film inan even, smooth, balanced coating. It is obvious that, should more thantwo color records be present on the film, the number of reservoirs 24-25and brushes or wicks 28 may be increased and arranged accordingly.Reversely, if only one colored strip is desired,or if it is wished tocolor the whole film with a single color, only one reservoir and brushor wick is used.

Assuming that the reservoir 24 contains a redorange coloring matter, andthat the reservoir 25 contains a blue-green coloring matter, the brushesor wicks 28 cooperating with these reservoirs will deliver theserespective colors to the proper longitudinal halves (if the film. Thatis to say, that between the perforations l6- and along one longitudinalhalf of the film the redorange dye or coloring matter will be applied,while from the center of the film to the opposite line of perforations16, the blue-green dye or coloring matter will be applied, of course,leaving the sound path of the film clear of any coloring matter.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated a modified form of the apparatus for applyingthe dye or coloring matter to the film. In this form of the apparatus,suitable spraying mechanisms 32 are used to place the dye or coloringmatter upon the film, said spraying mechanisms beingconnected to thepipes 26 to receive the dyes or coloring matter from the reservoirs24-25. A housing 33 encases or encloses each spraying mechanism 32 andoperates over the portion of the film that the spraying mechanism isdesigned to operate upon, so that one longitudinal half of the film willbe supplied by one spraying mechanism 32 and the other longitudinal halfof the film will be supplied by the other spraying mechanism 32. Thehousings 33 prevent the respective spraying mechanisms from operatingupon any portion of the film 16, other than the longitudinal halfthereof which corresponds to the color being emitted by that particularspraying apparatus.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present apparatus provides acontinuously o en ating mechanism by means of which the film is fed fromone reel 13 to the other reel 13 and has longitudinal strips of colorplaced thereon during such passage. That is to say, each longtiudinalhalf of the film is colored independently of the other longitudinal halfof the film, whereby the color filters required for the projection ofcolor motion pictures are placed directly upon the film. It is alsoapparent that the present apparatus may be modified to dye or color theentire width of the film a single color, without departing from thespirit or scope hereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a film coloring apparatus, a combination with a table, of reelsco-acting therewith for passing film across said table in a singlelongitudinal plane, and means cooperating with said table for coloringcontinuous longitudinal sections of. said film.

2. In a film coloring apparatus, a combination with a table, of reelsco-acting therewith for pass ing film across said table in a singlelongitudinal plane, and means cooperating with said table for coloringcontinuous longitudinal sections of said film, comprising independentcolor applicators, and means for supplying coloring fiuids to saidapplicators.

3. In a film coloring apparatus, a combination with a table, of reelsco-acting therewith for passing film across said table in a singlelongitudinal plane, and means cooperating with said table for coloringcontinuous longitudinal sections of said film, comprising an applicatorco-acting with each longitudinal section of the film to be colored, andmeans for gradually supplying coloring fluid to said applicator.

4. In a device for simultaneously coloring continuous longitudinalsections of the film, the combination with a table, of means forcontinuously passing the film across said table in a single longitudinalplane, a support disposed above said table, applicators mounted withinsaid support, each applicator being designed to act upon an independentlongitudinal section of film, and means for delivering coloring fluid tosaid applicator.

5. In a device for coloring continuous longitudinal sections of film,the combination with a table, of means for continuously passing the filmacross said table in a single longitudinal plane,

a support disposed above said table, brushes ad justably mounted uponsaid support and coacting with independent longitudinal sections of 13the film, and means for delivering coloring fluid to said brushes.

6. In a device for coloring continuous longitudinal sections of film,the combination with a table, of means for continuously passing the filmacross said table in a single longitudinal plane, a support disposedabove said table, brushes adjustably mounted upon said support andcoacting with independent longitudinal sections of the film, and meansfor delivering coloring fluid to said brushes, including tanks havingdelivery pipes adjoining the brushes aforesaid, and each pipe having avalve therein for regulating the flow of fluid.

OTTO C. GILMORE.

